It has been a tough summer for Coventry City who have lost both star attractions without replacement in the transfer market.

Last Season: 17th in Championship Another mediocre season for the Sky Blues and they now look about as far away from a return to the Premiership as they ever have before since leaving the top flight in 2001. Under the guidance of Chris Coleman Coventry certainly had their moments, reaching the sixth round of the FA Cup with a replay victory against Premiership side Blackburn before losing to Chelsea, but they failed to win any of their final eight games of the season and ended with poor defeats against Watford and Ipswich.

Head to Head: Rangers were beaten 1-0 at the Ricoh Arena on the back of wins at Norwich and Aston Villa. The game was won by an Elliott ward penalty that Radek Cerny went close to saving, and in truth QPR were by far and away the better team on the day and only poor finishing by Blackstock and others denied us a win. At Loftus Road rolls were reversed with Coventry the better team and only denied a win by a late header from Blackstock. Dan Fox gave Coventry a first half lead by catching Cerny out with a free kick from wide on the City right.
Coventry 1 QOR 0
QPR 1 Coventry 1

Odds: The bookies have Coventry down as 19th in the Championship this season with title odds at best 33/1 with Coral and BetFred and at worst 80/1 with Ladbrokes.

Manager: Chris Coleman The Premiership’s youngest manager when he was entrusted with the post at Fulham following Jean Tigana’s departure, Coleman has proved himself to be a solid, safe pair of hands. He was a classy centre half in his day with Blackburn, Palace, Fulham and others but his career was cut short by a nasty car accident. At Fulham ultimately I felt he was harshly treated as he maintained their Premiership status despite being forced to sell his best players season after season – during his spell Fulham sold £26m worth of players and lose Van Der Sar for nothing while Coleman spent little more than £10m on replacements. Coleman went to Real Sociedad on the recommendation of John Toshack following their relegation from La Liga but struggled to settle and get his message across to the Spanish players and returned to England with Coventry 18 months ago succeeding Iain Dowie. Coventry have made little progress on the league table since then and really it is hard to see just where they can go other than where they are now or lower. Coleman has been linked with Swansea and QPR this summer and is certainly a good manager but with his best players sold this summer and few replacements coming in it is looking like he may have to look elsewhere to go further than the bottom end of the Championship.
Survival Chances: 6/10

Players: Coventry have lost Scott Dann and Dan Fox from a previously formidable looking defence leaving only Elliott Ward, and his penalty taking, and last season’s surprise pick as Championship dream team goalkeeper Keiran Westwood to repel advances. The major summer signing so far is Sammy Clingan from relegated Norwich – I just don’t get it with him, in David Healy style he seems to raise his performance levels massively for Northern Ireland but at Forest and then Norwich last season he has done very little to catch the eye or impress. Up front they will again rely on Clinton Morrison and, to a lesser extent, Fredy Eastwood for goals – the former bagged 12 in his first season with them last year, the latter is yet to rediscover his Southend form for either Wolves or Coventry and only got four in 37 starts after a £1.2m move last season. Other than that Aron Gunnarsson caught the eye last year with his long throw and all action midfield style but that really is about it. A mediocre bunch at best.
Likely Star Player – Keiran Westwood.

Transfers
In:
Sammy Clingan from Norwich City – £1m
Out:
Scott Dann to Birmingham City – £4m
Dan Fox to Celtic – £1.5m
Robbie Simpson to Huddersfield Town – Undisclosed
Guillaume Beuzelin – Released
Andy Marshall – Released
Michael Mifsud – Released
Donovan Simmonds – Released
Kevin Thornton – Released

Prediction: I said when Coventry moved into the Ricoh Arena, and when Ray Ranson bought them, and every chance I have had basically that they are simply not structured to succeed. A club saddled with debt after mismanagement and Premiership relegation, now playing in a ground they do not own and don’t fill that means they make a loss every season before they even begin. Scott Dann and Dan Fox, the two prized assets, have both been sold this summer and the majority of that money has gone to paying off the losses they made last season, and towards plans to at least try and buy a stake in their own stadium. It has the look of a club going nowhere to me and they are unlikely to trouble the scorers greatly this season.
Verdict: Well into the bottom half, possible surprise relegation strugglers if they pick up injuries.

Photo: Action Images

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